This section of KDE TechBase is designed to help get you started in participating in the technical side of the KDE community. It will explain to you how KDE Software is structured and built, and how you can participate by building KDE for yourself.

This section of KDE TechBase is designed to help get you started in participating in the technical side of the KDE community. It will explain to you how KDE Software is structured and built, and how you can participate by building KDE for yourself.

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{{note|'''Quickstart:''' If you're impatient to get started without understanding the background then we recommend you use one of the available [[/Build#Scripted_Builds|Build Scripts]].}}

== Using KDE Software ==

== Using KDE Software ==

Revision as of 19:37, 7 March 2011

Warning

These pages are currently being completely re-written to reflect the new KDE infrastructure and may not be in a consistent state. Information and commands on some page may no longer be valid and should be used with care.

This section of KDE TechBase is designed to help get you started in participating in the technical side of the KDE community. It will explain to you how KDE Software is structured and built, and how you can participate by building KDE for yourself.

Note

Quickstart: If you're impatient to get started without understanding the background then we recommend you use one of the available Build Scripts.

Using KDE Software

If you just want to use stable KDE software for your everyday computing needs, then you do not need to build KDE Software for yourself. You should instead use the software installer provided by your Linux distribution to install KDE package.

The best place to learn how to do this is through your distributions normal support channels, although you may find some useful information on the following pages:

Mac OS X does not currently have an installer available for KDE Software, but you can simplify building it by using MacPorts or Fink

Getting Help

If you are looking for help in using the KDE Workspace or KDE Applications then please visit the KDE UserBase.

If you have any questions or problems with building or developing KDE Software please feel free to ask for help. However, be patient while waiting for a response, and try to work through the problem yourself, we aren't going to do it all for you. Working your way through and understanding why something doesn't work is a good way to learn how to do things the right way.

Building and Running KDE Software From Source

There are several possible ways to build and install KDE software and the method you choose depends on what you want to do with the software once it is built.

You may want to:

Develop a standalone application using the KDE Platform

Develop one of the KDE Applications

Develop the KDE Workspace or the KDE Platform

Test the latest KDE Software or an earlier stable version

In particular, for application development you may only need to build some parts of the KDE SC while relying on the KDE Development Platform stable packages from your distribution.

The table below provides some guidance in making this decision, but before you start building please read the rest of the pages for more detailed information on Getting Started.

Usage

Method

Developing an application outside of the KDE development infrastructure using the stable KDE Development Platform.

Packaged Stable Release

Developing an application outside of the KDE development infrastructure using features from the unstable KDE Development Platform.

Snapshot Build

Unstable Source Build

Developing an application in the KDE SC using the stable KDE Development Platform.

Stable Source Build

Developing an application in the KDE SC using features in the unstable KDE Development Platform.

Unstable Source Build

Developing the unstable KDE Development Platform.

Unstable Source Build

Method

Description

Stable Release Packages

Install a stable release of the KDE Development Platform from packages using your distributions standard software installer.

Unstable Packages

Install an unstable version of the KDE Development Platform using your distributions standard software installer. Some distributions provide unstable packages for Nightly Snapshots, Weekly Snapshots, or unstable development releases.

Snapshot Build

Build a snapshot of the source code as at a given time or release from a tarball download. These may be stable or unstable releases or nightly snapshots

Stable Source Build

Build a version of the source code for an official release directly from the source repository.

Unstable Source Build

Build the current unstable development code directly from the source repository.

Build Steps

There are a series of steps you need to understand and follow to successfully build KDE Software from source. The following sections will take you through the process: